A democratic republic is a form of government operating on principles
adopted from a republic and a democracy. Rather than being a cross
between two entirely separate systems, democratic republics may
function on principles shared by both republics and democracies.

Contents

1 Theory
2 History
3 Global use of the term
4 See also
5 References

Theory[edit]
Common definitions of the terms democracy and republic often feature
overlapping concerns, suggesting that many democracies function as
republics, and many republics operate on democratic principles, as
shown by these definitions from the Oxford dictionary online:

Republic: "A state in which supreme power is held by the people and
their elected representatives..."[1]
Democracy: "A system of government by the whole population or all the
eligible members of a state, typically through elected
representatives."[2]

Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law notes that the United States
exemplifies the varied nature of a democratic republic—a country
where some decisions (often local) are made by direct democratic
processes, while others (often federal) are made by democratically
elected representatives.[3] As with many large systems, US governance
is incompletely described by any single term. It also employs the
concept, for instance, of a constitutional democracy in which a court
system is involved in matters of jurisprudence.[3]
As with other democracies, not all persons in a democratic republic
are necessarily citizens, and not all citizens are necessarily
entitled to vote.[4]
SuffrageSuffrage is commonly restricted by criteria such
as voting age.[5]
History[edit]
In the US, the notion that a republic was a form of democracy was
common from the time of its founding, and the concepts associated with
representative democracy (and hence with a democratic republic) are
suggested by John Adams (writing in 1784):

No determinations are carried, it is true, in a simple representative
democracy, but by consent of the majority or their representatives.[6]

Historically, some inconsistency around the term is frequent. China
claims to be the oldest of Asia's democratic republics, though its
recent history of democratic process is largely linked only to
Taiwan.[7] Likewise, Africa's oldest democratic republic, Liberia
(formed in 1822), has had its political stability rocked by periodic
violence and coups.[8]
Global use of the term[edit]
Many countries that use the term "democratic republic" in their
official names (such as Algeria,[9] East Congo,[10] Ethiopia,[11]
North Korea,[12] Laos,[13] and Nepal[13]) are identified as
undemocratic "hybrid regimes" by the
DemocracyDemocracy Index[14] and "not
free" by the U.S.-based, U.S.-government-funded non-governmental
organization, Freedom House.[15] In addition,
East GermanyEast Germany was also
officially known as the German Democratic Republic, but, like the
Somali Democratic Republic[16] and People's Democratic
RepublicRepublic of
Ethiopia,[17] was controlled by a bureaucratic regime espousing
communism.[18]
There are also countries which uses the term "Democratic Republic" in
the name, and has a good track of general election, and was rated
flawed democracy or full democracy in the
DemocracyDemocracy Index, such as the
Democratic
RepublicRepublic of Timor-Leste and the Democratic Socialist
RepublicRepublic of Sri Lanka.
See also[edit]